What a difference color can make. From Country Living, this living room makeover started with a dated, golden wall color and ended with a white breath of fresh air...
The room already had lots going for it: the built-in shelving and large picture window are enviable in themselves. But this update makes them just that much better. We're especially fond of the light blue painted shelf backs. Also look at how the mirror over the fireplace is opposite that nice, big window. That will serve to add more light and "space" to the room.
See more images of the room at Country Living.
Image: Bjorn Wallander
Aimee & Todd's Relaxed Chic Home 
The World's Ugliest Condo: The Big Bathroom Reveal 
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Hunslet Dinner Plate
A Beginner's Guide to Superb Stir-Fry: Quick, Healthy Meals from a Wok
Homesteaders' Cocktail Recipe: Lovage Simple Syrup
Comments (18)
Blue and white always works. It may not be edgy design, but it's failproof.
I also love the light blue shelfbacks! Lovely!
the after is beautiful but OMG
do I love the chartreuse paint in the
before pic!
Frickin' A- that yellow was heinous. Anything would be better than that.
PS- Mostly, I just want that dog. So cute!
Uh, WOW. I had to match up the architectural detail to convince myself it was the same place. Behold the impact of color (positive & negative!). I'm not a blue and white person but I'd definitely live in the after room... and it gives me hope for my own icky bookshelves.
what happened to all the books??!?
If only I could "edit" my library that easily...
Well done. But I dislike all the tchockies in the library now. It'd be WAY better if they left it replete with books, which are, in my opinion, a fantastic room accessory.
I'm also missing the books. Some objects mixed in is nice but I love having my books where I can see them and remember why I liked them enough to keep them.
I've always hated the stuff-mixed in with books thing. It just comes off as cheesy and cluttered. If you simply must do it, I feel like it's better when kept simple with a minimum of objects.
Lovely changes to the room otherwise, though!
"what happened to all the books??!?"
They obviously went the way of the heinous pre-existing decor...
"I've always hated the stuff-mixed in with books thing."
I find the alternative to have all the aesthetic beauty of a law office or the local used booksellers...
And where else would folks propose that one display souvenirs and decorative items that have been collected during one's travels? IMO, they are far more interesting to gaze upon and more conducive to spark conversations with visiting friends and family than a bunch of once-read books.
Looks to me like the books have left with the owners of the "before" room.
No way the 1960's furnishings and old-folk accessories (notice the walking cane?) belong to the same people who live in the "after" room.
uhm>??? it went from awesome to a linens and things catalog.
I love the ikat fabric couch in the the corner of the picture....
any ideas where that is from???
The yellow paint in the "before" wasn't bad, it was just the upholstery that made the whole thing an assault on the senses. The new room is really nice and understated. And I agree that shelves are not just for books. This is not a lending library.
i prefer books to kick-knack, but to each their own (some people actually have books they read more than once …) -
the new colour scheme is lovely.
sorry
my eyes are still bleeding from the green in the "before". i like the color but, the color, the furniture the books all at once.. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH